Online Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Vol 1(2)

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Beschreibung:

July to September 2015 issue of OJMR. Online Journal of Multidisciplinary Research aims to encourage and publish the researches in the various fields. This journal will highlight the researches in the areas of various indigenous techniques and their applications in the diagnosis and therapeutic purposes. There have been a serious lack of such a journal that is truly interdisciplinary. This journal brings together the findings of yoga, philosophy, Ayurveda, physics, biology, neuroscience, management, education and various other streams but are left aside for the lack of knowledge of both worlds or because of the fear of being cast away from the original domain of psychology. This journal encourages the young and experienced researchers at the same time to be innovative and carry out the research that is truly meaningful and can incorporate the best of many different streams and enhance our understanding of human psyche and behavior. This journal aims to push the dimensions of modern psychology further towards the new horizons. The research findings in more traditional areas of psychology, management, education and other social sciences and various others are also considered. This Journal is an open access journal and free for ever.

Online Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Vol 1(2)

Hochgeladen von

Beschreibung:

July to September 2015 issue of OJMR. Online Journal of Multidisciplinary Research aims to encourage and publish the researches in the various fields. This journal will highlight the researches in the areas of various indigenous techniques and their applications in the diagnosis and therapeutic purposes. There have been a serious lack of such a journal that is truly interdisciplinary. This journal brings together the findings of yoga, philosophy, Ayurveda, physics, biology, neuroscience, management, education and various other streams but are left aside for the lack of knowledge of both worlds or because of the fear of being cast away from the original domain of psychology. This journal encourages the young and experienced researchers at the same time to be innovative and carry out the research that is truly meaningful and can incorporate the best of many different streams and enhance our understanding of human psyche and behavior. This journal aims to push the dimensions of modern psychology further towards the new horizons. The research findings in more traditional areas of psychology, management, education and other social sciences and various others are also considered. This Journal is an open access journal and free for ever.

salary and absence of any licensing authorities are

the biggest challenges for upcoming psychologistsin their career in India.

OJMR 2015 | July - September 2015 | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Pages 1-7

Published online by Association for Indian Psychology, Rishikesh, India

ISSN (Online): 2395-4892

Quarterly, Peer-reviewed, Int. Journal

2Agrawal, G. / Psychology in India: A Career with Uncertain Opportunities

Background

In

a big country like India with a

population of 1.2 billion, you would expectthat as many as millions of psychologists canfind decent jobs. But unfortunately thepicture is quite opposite. Its very rare thatyou find a psychologist in a city hospital oreven in the whole city. Despite various bigclaims, finding a proper psychologist indecent hospitals is also very uncommon. Inreality most of the psychiatric facilities areaccessible to the citizens of big cities only.Finding a qualified counsellor in the schoolsis a bit too much to ask, despite fewexceptions. Every year thousands of thepsychology graduates join the ever growinglist of educated unemployed in India. Theyinclude graduates, post graduates and evenholding PhDs. For those who study thepsychology as a subject of specialization andare looking for some serious career are still ina considerable number. A systematic probe isrequired to understand the relevance ofpsychologists/counsellors in modern Indiaand at the same time it could be interesting tofind how the psychologists, already in thepractice, are doing in their careers.EpidemiographicViewofMentalDisordersSystematic studies for collecting theepidemiographic data about the mentaldisease are limited and there is enoughdiscrepancy among them. Such a study shouldcollect the data about distribution of disease,frequency of disease, population at risk andvarious methods to address the issue.(1) Itwas recently reported that in previousepidemiological researches conducted from1960 to 2009, the prevalence rates forpsychiatric disorders varying from 9.5 to370/1000 population in India.(2) In the samestudy the authors suspect that despite hugevariations, as many as 20% of Indianpopulation might be suffering frompsychological troubles.(2) In a recent survey

by National Sample Survey Organization it

was reported that 1.49% of total populationwas suffering from various mental healthissues. There was a small difference in favorof rural population which was at 1.7% ascompared to their urban counterparts.(3)Problem with various epidemiological studiesis that the most of the times they are selectivein their choice of mental disorders. Anxietydisorders and some variants of depressiongenerally are excluded. Further, variouslesser known mental disorders are notreported as the population suffering fromthat and their care takers are not comfortableto call these problems as mental diseases. In aMeta analysis study authors tried to reporttheprevalenceratesfordifferentpsychological disorders in India on the basisof ten prevalence studies. They reported thatprevalence for all mental disorders togetherwas6.54%.Prevalenceratesforschizophrenia were found to be 2.3 per 1000while for affective disorders (depression) itwas 31.2 per 1000. These numbers seem toobig and scary. Further prevalence for anxietyneurosis, hysteria and mental retardationwere 18.5, 4.1 and 4.2 per 1000 populationrespectively.(4) Here also the prevalence ratewas reported higher in rural population ascompared to urban. This is understandable asin rural India the facilities of psychologicalcare are quite poor. All the mental hospitalsare situated in cities and rural people are leftalone on the mercy of family members. Thesedata suggest that in a country with apopulation of 1.2 billion, as many as 65million are suffering from mental diseases.This is a real big number of mental patientsand a very big need of mental healthprofessionals in India in every part ofcountry. This data does not includeindividuals needing counseling and help forissues other than mental diseases.

OJMR 2015 | July - September 2015 | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Pages 1-7

Published online by Association for Indian Psychology, Rishikesh, India

ISSN (Online): 2395-4892

Quarterly, Peer-reviewed, Int. Journal

3Challenges for Teenagers and ChildrenResearches in last few years havereported the prevalence of mental problemsin teenagers is frightening in India. It wasreported that three to nine per cent ofteenagers in schools, studying in 9th standardor above and overtly healthy, meet thecriteria for depression at any one time.(5) Asmany as 20% of teenagers in India reported alifetime prevalence of depression. Further,more frustrating part is that 30-50% of casesweregoneunnoticedbygeneralphysicians.(5) One can imagine that manymore teenagers would not seek even primarymedical care. The reason behind thesenumbers is an open secret. Indian childrenand adolescents are subjected to greatdistress by the ever growing expectations ofparents and growing burden of books. Thecomplex relationships with parents are themain source of stress instead of providingsome coping skills.(6) The teenagers areanxious and insecure for their future. 5.3% ofadolescents start using tobacco use as acoping method.(7) Another important issue inIndian teenagers is the taboo nature of sexeducation which is seldom provided. Normalattraction for opposite gender, if not guidedproperly leads to various unwanted eventsthat create big stress in the lives of manypeople. It is the duty of parents to provideright information and control the sexualbehavior of their children at the appropriatetime. But lack of appropriate parentalsupervision and control and adolescentsexual activity has been shown in differentstudies.(8) Psychologists and counselor intheir schools and locality can be a source ofgreat help. They not only can listen but alsoprovide some interventions to develop theirpotentials and provide safeguards againstfuture psychological problems.OpportunitiesforMentalHealthProfessionalsThe prevalence data and challengesfor Indian teenagers discussed above are justthe very small piece of the whole jigsawpuzzle. These sufferings of the people indicatethat the field of mental health is going to have

a boom very soon. There are immense

opportunities for trained mental healthprofessionals in all fields. Indian schools incoming few years will be forced to employ acounsellor for their children and teachersboth. The students are not only victims ofstress and burden but they also dont have aclue where this endless race of ill definedsuccess is going to take them. Teachers arealso following the same age oldmethodologies for teaching which does notseem to help in changing world. Teachers willbe benefitted if they regularly get inputs fromsomeone who understands the personality ofchildren. One who understands how theircognitive development can be manipulated,bad habits can be replaced with good ones,what it takes to develop an environmentwithout forcing the teaching and how to usethe knowledge of memory, intelligence,reinforcement and punishment to maximizethe students potentials. Here a counsellor inschool is going to be of great help for bothteachers and students. The researches haveshown that presence of a counsellor havedeveloped the students capacities helpedthem deal with their social, personal,educationalandemotionalissueseffectively.(9) In India, Central Board ofSecondary Education guidelines expect oneschool counselor will be appointed for everyaffiliated school, but this is less than 3% of allIndian students attending public schools.(10)And reality is that not all CBSE schools have aqualified counselor. Usually the job ofcounseling is trusted to some young teacherand this fellow sees this as an extra burden.Any way this tells that in coming years therewill be a big requirement of qualified schoolcounselors in all schools of India.Further more in coming few years allhospitals would be hiring psychologists. Atthis day the most of the hospitals dont haveany psychiatry and psychology departments.And where they have even there psychiatristsare doing the jobs of counselors andpsychologists. Slowly but surely in the bigcities the hospitals have started to have acounselor. Today good hospital chains havesome psychologists and they are constantly

OJMR 2015 | July - September 2015 | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Pages 1-7

Published online by Association for Indian Psychology, Rishikesh, India

ISSN (Online): 2395-4892

Quarterly, Peer-reviewed, Int. Journal

4looking for some skilled and trainedpsychology professionals which are a rarecommodity in India. Besides the hospitalsettings, what India is missing dearly is somepsychologists running their own privatecounseling centers and clinics. This is the onearea where the most of the psychologists areemployed in the whole world. According tothe APA's Center for Workforce Studies, therewere 106,500 licensed psychologists in theUnited States in 2014, based on APA's 2012state licensing board list.(11) There is nosuch data available about India but one caneasily guess that such a number would be farsmaller than this and as compared topopulation of India it would be very modest.India seriously needs a number of trainedprofessionals with skills and courage both tocome forward and act as the torchbearers.The opportunities for them would be amazingand it can ensure a bright future despite somestruggle.Psychologists in India are usuallyabsorbed in NGOs and rehabilitation centers.Good thing is that here also possibilities areimmense. The government of India andvarious state governments are alwaysrunning some public welfare projects fororphan, widows, tribes, poor and disabled,criminals and drug addicts etc. There also,good psychology professionals can finddecent jobs. But here also the problem is thatthere is always a disparity between jobdemand and qualification sought. So apsychology graduate can be in competitionwith one trained in literature. This doesntencourage the psychology graduates.ChallengesWhile it seems that there are immenseopportunities for psychologists in India, onecant help admitting the various challengesthat young graduates have to come across.These challenges mostly discourage theyoung guys to pursue the career inpsychology especially if they can lookelsewhere. In reality the majority of thestudents enrolling in psychology courses arethose who didnt find options in other coursesor in stern words were not simply good

enough to get admission in those fields that

are more promising. Of course there areexceptions but those who look at thepsychology as the first choice of career; theyalso get to face discouraging and confusingcircumstances. They are listed here:Poor Salaries and Not Enough JobsThe psychologists in India receivedismal salary as compared to that prevailingin other countries. In the western countriespsychologists are one of the highest paidprofessionals in the healthcare. But comparedto that Indian psychologists get verymediocre salaries. According to a reportpublished on an online source in the U.K., thewages for clinical psychologists range from28,313 to 37,326 per year. Senior clinicalpsychologists can expect to earn between36,112 and 43,335. In the U.S., in 2009,clinical, counseling and school psychologistsearned an average salary of $66,040 per yearwhile industrial psychologists earned$83,260.(12) Psychologists who havespecialized and those working in the privatesector earn considerably more. In India, apsychologist earns between Rs. 60,000 to Rs.1,200,000 depending on specialty, locationand popularity. In a private hospital, a freshclinical psychologist with an MPhil degree candraw about Rs. 30,000 a month.(12)This doesnt seem very attractive andinspiring. One can note that there is a bigdisparity between the lowest to highestsalaries in India ranging from Rs 60,000 to Rs1,200,000 per year. The reason behind this isnot just the experience and skills rather itdepends largely on the sector in which one isemployed. The higher end salaries are drawnby the psychologists employed in governmentmental hospitals, teaching in governmentuniversities and military services. But thenthey are only handful. Others employed inprivate settings, small hospitals, researchprojects or in schools account for mid rangesalaries. The psychologists and professionalworking in NGOs or small rehabilitationcenters are in the biggest numbers but theyare at the bottom of the salary pyramid. A

OJMR 2015 | July - September 2015 | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Pages 1-7

Published online by Association for Indian Psychology, Rishikesh, India

Further it is reported that the number of

female professionals in the field ofpsychology has outdone that of their malecounterparts in India. While 87% of theclinical psychologists are women, theyaccount for around 57% of the counselingjobs. In fact women can earn from around INR180,000 up to around INR 443,700 in thisfield based on experience, job skills and otherfactors.(13)While if higher end of the salarieslook attractive, one should notice that theseare quite rare and the big disparity is quitediscouraging. But the more challenging partof the story is that in India there are not manyjobs for psychologists and counselors. Veryfew schools have a designated post for thecounselor. There also they make use of acounselorbyassigninghimtheresponsibilities of a sports teacher, musicteacher or a go to man in case some otherspecialized teacher is absent. Since there arenot many options, a trained counselor ismade to do everything except counseling.Same is the case with hospitals. Rarely anyhospital is going to hire a psychologist andthen they would expect him to take care of atleast 20-30 patients a day. Reason is simple.

They compare him with a usual physician

who is going to attend at least 50-60 patientsa day. In the research field or teaching alsothere are limited options. So at the end of theday the psychologists and counselors are leftto compromise with a job in NGOs or in somerehabilitation centers with minimal pay.Lack of LicensingAnother challenging issue is thatthere are no licensing measures forpsychologists. The Rehabilitation Council ofIndia (RCI) is entrusted with the job ofprovidingthelicensingofclinicalpsychologistsandrehabilitationpsychologists only. The Rehabilitation Councilof India (RCI) was set up as a registeredsociety in 1986. On September, 1992 the RCIAct was enacted by Parliament and it becamea Statutory Body on 22 June 1993. The Actwas amended by Parliament in 2000 to makeit more broad based. The mandate given toRCI is to regulate and monitor services givento persons with disability, to standardizesyllabi and to maintain a CentralRehabilitation Register of all qualifiedprofessionals and personnel working in thefieldofRehabilitationandSpecialEducation.(14)Theideawasthatpsychologists who are working with disabledand needing rehabilitation need to beregistered with RCI. For this an MPhil inClinical Psychology is the only optionrendering other degrees and certificatesmeaningless. So since the advent of the RCIthe confusion has increased even more. Thepsychologists working in other fields thanrehabilitation dont know if they need to getregistered with RCI or not. RCI has not helpedreduce this confusion by providingambiguous information to the psychologistsasking for clarifications. There have beenvoices of protest everywhere but to noavail.(15) Many psychologists in fear of thesefalse rumors of punitive actions (if RCIcertificate is not availed) began the search ofsome RCI certificate by taking somemeaningless certificate course, totallyunconnected to their actual practice. Finallyin response to an RTI application RCI stated

OJMR 2015 | July - September 2015 | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Pages 1-7

Published online by Association for Indian Psychology, Rishikesh, India

ISSN (Online): 2395-4892

Quarterly, Peer-reviewed, Int. Journal

6that it has no authority to register anyonewho is not claiming to be a clinicalpsychologist or working in the field ofrehabilitation.(16) Since there is no licensingor even accepted guidelines for practicing, theemployers are not sure whom they shouldhire. People of different skills can apply forthe same job and it is quite possible that awrong person with not desirable skills mightbe working there. This has resulted in a senseof confusion all around.Lack of Awareness and AccessibilityDespite development of educationand growing awareness of psychologicalissues, the age old superstitions andreservations against psychological problemsand patients are still strong. Religion andspiritual beliefs may work both as medicinesand poison for mental illness. Many Indianpeople develop various guilt feelings as theirlives are not according to the religiousnorms.(17) Further there is a tendency tosimply ignore the mental illness or not tostick to the treatment for long enough as thepsychotherapeutic treatment doesnt seem asa traditional medical treatment. In a recentstudy it was found that Desire to handle theproblem on ones own was the most commonbarrier among respondents with a disorderwho perceived a need for treatment(63.8%).(18) Perceived ineffectiveness oftreatment was the most commonly reportedreason for treatment dropout (39.3%)followed by negative experiences withtreatment providers (26.9% of respondentswith severe disorders). However Women andyounger people with disorders were morelikely to recognize a need for treatment.(18)If you look at the school settings, teachers inschools are not aware of even the existence ofvarious learning problems.(19) In such asituation how would anyone expect that theseproblems would be brought to the attentionof psychologists. On the other hand thisoutlines the need of employing a schoolcounsellor in each school.

SummaryThe world today is characterized by rapid change,acceleratingtechnologicaldevelopmentandunprecedented international competition. The causesof all diseases lie in a human wrong behavior, in awrong way of thinking and living. This requires moreof us in all aspects of life - a greater capacity andcreativity,selfdevelopment,andpersonalresponsibility. Life is a voyage of self discovery whichmeans going within and tapping the inner power thatalready knows what is best for us. Throughout time,philosophers have affirmedthat by steppingbeyond the limitations of the egocentric anindividual can experience self realization or innerpower. As mentioned in Bhagwad Gita inner power isin our positive thoughts. With this realization comes adeep understanding of the worth of a humanbeing.OPENACSelf realization is a process of evaluating & analyzingoneself & removing false ego. Self realization isknowledge of the true self beyond delusion & falseidentification. If we are willing to turn our lives over tothis greater thought power within us, the power thatloves and sustains us, we can create more loving andprosperous lives.

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ISSN (Online): 2395-4892

Quarterly, Peer-reviewed, Int. Journal

9Tanushree/ An Analysis of Spiritual Thinking

Background

Thought

is a form and thinking is a way

to obtain, from the boundless ocean offormless mind in its unexpressed and alreadyexisting condition. And we give it, in a certainway form. We formulate it, and we bring itas a noetic image or mental picture withinour inner world. But we also project it as anelemental into the environment around us.Until now, man has learned to create theseimages completely mechanically. And theseimages are the product of his aims, hiswishes, and his desires that are found in lifeand in his environment.According to Sharma (2008), thoughtsare electro-biomagnetic waves perpetuallyarising in the mind. Thoughts are producedby the bioelectricity generated in thepowerhouse of the inner self. (If you rub yourhands together than the warmth generated isbecause of the presence of bio electricity inthe body). In the event of death, on thedeparture of the soul from the body, theindividual ceases to think.A thought is not merely a word givento signify an abstraction, concept or feeling.Thoughts have dimensions with specificproperties detectable by instruments. (Onesuch example of this kind of instrument is thepolygraph- the lie detector, which detects andpresents graphics of thoughts in differentstates of mind).The currents of these thought waveshave wavelengths and frequencies like thoseproduced in waves of water. However there isa difference in their magnitude and process ofpropagation. The waves produced in a pondof water on earth fan and die out at theperiphery of the pond due to the resistance ofthe earth. On the other hand, the thoughtwaves which are perennially in propagationin the infinitude of space (Aakash) are neverlost. Thoughts do not die. For that reasonwhen someone says something to hurt us,that hurt remains with us for a long time.Each thought has its own specificcharacteristic, and instead of being

amalgamated into an undifferentiated mass;

the thought retains forever its independentidentity and existence. Within this structure,similar thoughts or ideas tend to be attractedfrom far and wide in space and form intenseclusters of thoughts. The phenomenon is likewater vapour evaporating from differentreservoirs collecting to form clouds. (For e.g.the atmosphere in a jail, a courtroom,hospitals, a place of worship, a rock concertare all different).When a thought arises, its frequencyin the mind of the thinker interacts with thoseof the masses of similar thoughts (collectiveIdeospheres) in the space. The individualthought (the small magnet of the Ideosphereof an individual) enters the field of the largemagnet (the mass of Ideospheres). In thisway, through extra sensory perception(commonly understood as intuition), onecomes to know many new aspects of a subjectbeing deliberated upon. The informationcomes from pre existence in the collectivemass of the Ideosphere of knowledge; i.e.ideas, thoughts and experiences of people,who had studied, pondered over andelaborated upon the subject in the past.While thinking about activities ofphilanthropy and welfare, one has a feeling ofgreat peace and contentment. Thissatisfaction is derived from the collectiveexperience of people who had performedsimilar deeds in the past; similarly one canexperience pain and tension in places wherecollectively people congregate for treatmentof a terminal disease, burial of a loved oneetc." (For example one experiences peace,calm and happiness at places of worship,whereas one can experience a feeling oftension and sorrow near an abattoir, a cancerhospital or a burial ground/ cemetery).Nainam cchindanti shastraani nainam dahati paavakah;Na chainam kledayantyaapo na shoshayati maarutah.(2/23) Gita

According to Yogananda (2006),

Rama (2004), Aurobindo (1998), Sanyal(1999), Prem (1982), Mitchell (2000),Ranganathananda (2001); this Self cannot becut, burnt, wetted nor dried up. It is eternal,all-pervading, stable, Ancient and immovable.Everything is energyThe whole cosmos is based onvibration, on energy. Everything is energy,whether it is matter, light, sound, thought orsensation. Many scientists confirm thisthrough research, which shows that not onlyexternal influences trigger physical changesin our body, but that above all thoughts and ina wider sense, sensations influence thebiochemical processes in our organism.Accordingly, thoughts are energies, whichhave an influence on the well-being of ourbody. Negative thoughts make man ill,positive ones restore him to health or keephim healthy.Positive and Negative ThoughtsPositive thoughts are constructivethoughts, they are thoughts which are vivifiedby the sensations of selfless love; thoughtsthat have the goal of the well-being of ourneighbour,withoutexpectingpraise,appreciation or reward; they are loving, kind,gentle thoughts, thoughts of trust andbenevolence, thoughts of serving, which helpour neighbour to make the next step in hisrespective situation; they are thoughts ofpeace and unity, thoughts of joy and of innerhappiness also, for example, about thebeauty of nature which gives itself as energyand life in countless shapes and colours; theyare thoughts of gratitude stemming from thefeelings of the recipient of a gift ... Hereenergy flows selflessly from us to others andreturns abundantly to us, because we give,

because we love. Selfless loving thoughts are

divine energy, because God is love and theone who loves is within God and God is withinhim.Negative thoughts are ruinous,destructive thoughts, they are egoisticthoughts: thoughts of envy, jealousy, hatred,anger, fury, aggression towards ourneighbour; they are depressive thoughts,thoughts of putting yourself above others andof putting others down; they are expectations,thoughts of mistrust and ill-will; they arebrooding thoughts about what is past, that is,thinking about things when its too late,thoughts of clinging to the past and also to thefuture. They are thoughts of anxiety anxiety about ones whole existence, fear ofillness, suffering, misery or death, of not to beable to satisfy the demands of daily life, fearof losing ones wealth, of losing ones partneror friends; they are thoughts of self-pity andof false sympathy for ones neighbour whichwill not help him at all; they are thoughts ofdestruction, of exploitation, of torment andmurder, above all, concerning nature, plantsand animals; they are thoughts of wanting topossess, to be and to have, thoughts of greedfor power and domination; they are selfwilled, self-centered thoughts, ruthlessthoughts that circle only around ones owninterest and advantages. Here the energydoes not flow to others; there are no giving,but taking, powers at work; the person whothinks negatively does not give, but tries totake energy to satisfy his personal egoisticneeds and wishes, or to reduce his own lackof energy, by robbing energy from others.Hay (2008) mentioned that whateverwe think about ourselves becomes the truthfor us. Every thought we think is creating ourfuture. Each one of us creates our experiencesby our thought and our feeling. The thoughtswe think and the words we speak creates ourexperiences.We create the situation, and then giveour power away by blaming the other personfor our frustration. No person, no place andnothing have any power over us, for we arethe only thinkers in our mind. When we

OJMR 2015 | July - September 2015 | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Pages 8-13

Published online by Association for Indian Psychology, Rishikesh, India

ISSN (Online): 2395-4892

Quarterly, Peer-reviewed, Int. Journal

11create peace and harmony and balance in ourminds, we will find it in our lives.UdharedatmanannatmanamvasadyetAtmaevhayatmanobadhuratmaivripuratman.(6/5) Gita

In this sixth chapter of the Bhagavad

Gita, Lord Krishna is describing the system ofmeditational yoga to His friend Arjuna. Here,in this verse, Krishna is establishing that themind is the central point of yoga practice. Thepurpose of the yoga system is to control themind and draw it away from attachment tosense objects.According to Yogananda (2006),Rama (2004), Aurobindo (1998), Sanyal(1999), Prem (1982), Mitchell (2000),Ranganathananda (2001) a man must elevatehimself by his own mind, not degrade himself.The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul,and his enemy as well.According to Prabhupada (2009), themind has to be trained in such a way that itcan deliver the conditioned soul from thedarkness of the material world and bring himinto the light of Krishna consciousness.Material life means being subjected to theinfluence of the mind and the senses, in factthe pure soul is entangled in the materialworld only because of the minds ego whichdesires to lord it over material nature.Therefore the mind should be trained so it isnot attracted to the glitter of material natureand in this way the conditioned soul may besaved.One should not degrade oneself byattraction to the things that will satisfy onessenses. The more one is attracted by senseobjects, the more one becomes entangled inmaterial existence. The best way todisentangle oneself is to always engage themind in Krishna consciousness. In this verseit is emphasized that one must do this. In thisway the mind will elevate one and notdegrade him.Bandhuatmaatmanatasyayen atmaeav atmna jiteAnatmnastushatrutrave vartetatmev shatruvat.(6/6) Gita

According to Yogananda (2006),

Rama (2004), Aurobindo (1998), Sanyal

(1999), Prem (1982), Mitchell (2000),

Ranganathananda (2001) for him who hasconquered the mind, the mind is the best offriends; but for one who has failed to do so;his very mind will be the greatest enemy.The Divine and the Undivine ForcesAccording to Krishnananda (1993),there are two powers working in us Daivaand Asura, as the Bhagavad Gita mentions.The weakness which tells us that it is notpossible for us to face the world of objectsarises on account of the undivine forces(asura) also operating in us, which tell us thatwe are puny little individuals, that we arenowhere before this large world. Theastronomical universe terrifies us. We are onespeck, atomic in size, like a particle on thissmall planet called earth, which is floatingunrecognized in space in the midst of largegalaxies, unthinkable in vast space and timecomplex. We are flabbergasted at the might ofthis universe. We feel defeated, humiliated bythe very size of the world.But another thing, the divine nature(daiva) in us, tells us that we can overcomethe whole universe; we can reach the starsand make them our own. We can probe intothe mysteries of nature, conquer it andharness it, utilize it for our purposes. Thedaiva, the divinity in us, tells us: "You are nota weakling. Get up and show your strength!Don't be a coward." The other one says, "Youare a coward, a weakling, you cannot doanything."The facing of the world, confrontingthe Kaurava forces, meeting the requirementsof the large humanity, calls for a developmentof our personality in a new directionaltogether. We require a strengtheninginwardly, gradually, in the needed measure toface the world, and it is necessary to face theworld. We cannot run away from it. We are init, steeped in it. What is the use of makingcomplaints?As threads are involved in the fabricof a cloth and one thread cannot say that itwill run away from the cloth, none of us cansay that he will run away from the world.Even Arjuna's complaint that he can flee and

OJMR 2015 | July - September 2015 | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Pages 8-13

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ISSN (Online): 2395-4892

Quarterly, Peer-reviewed, Int. Journal

12eat a beggar's meal in the forest is anunintelligent foolish person's attitude. Such athing is not practicable in a world where weare inextricably involved in all things.The duty, therefore, is not to run awayfrom what we are confronting, but to developenough energy in us to confront it. If we haveto face the ocean, we have also to become anocean. One ocean can meet another ocean, butthe drop that we are cannot do that. We mayfeel that we are a drop in the midst of the seaof Kaurava forces, but we are also an oceaninside, of which the drop is a vital part.Towards that realization, move forward. Actnow! Bring forth to the surface of yourawareness the power that is in you calledunderstanding.We are not outside the world and theworld is not outside us. The Kaurava and thePandava forces are two sides of the samecoin. They come from the same VyasaBhagavan. They are descendants of oneperson only. They are like two arms of asingle individual. They are cousin brothers,belonging to one family. The Pandavas alsoare called Kurus sometimes, and the Kauravasalso are called by the same name. Rememberthat they are descendants of Vyasa, who is theoriginal progenitor of both sides. So also isthere an origin of this world and also of ourown selves, who look like individuals. Wehave a common parentage and a uniformheritage. This, on the one hand, is the lightthat will emanate from us by exercising ourunderstanding, that the stuff of the world isalso the stuff of our personality.Spiritual life begins when we cancontrol our minds. Ordinarily the mind of aconditioned soul in the material world iscompletely out of control. For most people,rather than their mind being controlled theirminds become servants of their senses. In thesame way all the senses of the body aredemanding the mind to supply theirparticular objects of gratification so theperson is actually out of control. He simplybecomes a servant of his senses, trying tosatisfy their every whim, but the cruel natureof the material world is that no matter whathe supplies in an attempt to satisfy his senses

they will never be satisfied. They will always

According to Yogananda (2006),

Rama (2004), Aurobindo (1998), Sanyal(1999), Prem (1982), Mitchell (2000),Ranganathananda (2001), for one who hasconquered the mind, the Super soul is alreadyreached, for he has attained tranquility. Tosuch a man happiness and distress, heat andcold, honor and dishonor are all the same.The five senses make their contactwith the external world and its objects, andsend their information-impulses to our brain,allowing us to experience the polarities ofpleasure and pain, sukha-duhkha in Sanskrit.These experiences are impermanent and areto be endured, for what is temporal has noreal existence and is unreal (Asat) in thesense that it is fluctuation and change(Bhagavad Gita II.14-16). While the real (Sat)always exists, as the 14th century Sufi poetMahmud Shabistari says, beneath the curtainof each atom.It is not that the external world has novalue as some believe. However, its state ofconstant change makes it the unreal (Asat) inthe sense that it is impermanent. The externalreality is very real to the five senses, but thereis so much more to our world than what wecan see, hear, touch, etc. Everywhere there isthe imperishable (akshara) that permeatessupports and sustains the temporal illusoryhologram.Without knowledge of this eternal,immutable, imperishable Real - we are lost,floating on a sea of delusion and ignorancethat tosses us around at whim and fools usinto thinking that possessions and pleasurecan give us meaningKrishna teaches his friend that thisuniverse is pervaded by that which isindestructible and Arjuna has no power to killthat. The body may die, but the soul (Atma)never dies. It simply transmigrates to a newbody, just as we get new clothes when our oldones are worn out (II.17-22). When our body

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13is worn out we move into new forms thatresonate with our thoughts, new datacollecting vehicles to expand our expressionof the God within us all. The realization thatyou never die changes your entire attitudetowards living and you have the opportunityto become less attached to the perils, failures,and successes of your current identity self.There comes a time when in wisdomyou will not care if you have beenimmortalized by the media. Your search formeaning will not be based on the approval ordisapproval of others. You will care moreabout doing what is right, taking action withthe greatest integrity and knowledge youhave available to you in that moment, andthat knowledge will always be changing asyou continually re-evaluate its worth.ConclusionThe primary purpose of theBhagavad-Gita is to illuminate for all ofhumanity the realization of the true nature ofdivinity; for the highest spiritual conceptionand the greatest material perfection is toattain love of God. We should not think abouthow big or small we can really make things.All this is materialistic and engages people intensions and greedy activities. It makes oneprofit oriented. Thinking about yours or minealso does the same. All the life we make andcollect things for ourselves. This reallydoesnt make a difference when we leave thisworld. We all are turned into ashes afterdeath. Those who are prepared to go throughthe battles of life, through self-discipline,stability of mind, detachment, surrendering toGod with full devotion, wisdom, rightdiscrimination and knowledge, are qualifiedto attain liberation and union with theSupreme. However, we have to train our mindin the right manner. If we treat it forcefully itwill rebel. The mind has got its own tricks, sowe should control it by becoming friends with

SummaryThe aims of the present investigation were to studythe level of self-adjustment in school goingadolescents and to see the effect of three monthsyoga on them. One hundred students (50 males and50 females), with ages between 13 and 16 years(group mean age S.D., 13.58 0.76 years) wereselected as the participants for this study. All of themwere high school students in the north India. For theassessmentofself-adjustment,AdolescentsAdjustment Scale was used. The study was a beforeand after group design and there was no controlgroup. Signed consent was taken from eachparticipant before the actual data collection. Threemonths of yoga intervention was provided to bothgroups i.e. boys and girls group. Obtained datawereOPENACanalyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA).Significant differences were found in self-adjustmentscores in boys (p<0.05) and girls group (p<0.05) aswell. In conclusion, the practice of yoga for threemonths was found beneficial to enhance the level ofself-adjustment in adolescent boys and girls as well.

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Bhardwaj, Mookherjee, and Bhardwaj / Self-Adjustment in Adolescents Following Yoga

Background

Self-adjustment

or adjustment ofoneself is very important to deal with ourday-to-day situations. Self-adjustment is thedegree to which an individual, havingconsidered his personal characteristics, findshimself able and willing to live with themhappily. A person with optimum level of selfadjustment recognizes his short-comingswithout blaming himself [1]. There are someconditions that determine how much aperson adjusts to himself are; selfunderstanding, realistic expectations, absenceof environmental obstacles, favorable socialattitudes, absence of severe emotional stress,identification with well adjusted people, goodchildhood training and a stable selfperception. So self-adjustment is necessaryfor everyone including adolescents but peergroup adjustment is also important. Sociallyadjusted adolescent possesses traits such asextroversion,courtesy,cooperation,unselfishness, truthfulness, frankness, tempercontrol, resourcefulness, initiative, andwillingness to confirm to rules andregulations which are also necessary to live inthe environment [1].Adjustment is the behavioral processby which individuals maintain equilibriumamong their different types of needs and theobstacles of the environment where they live.If the relationship between the individual andhis/ her environment is in accordance withthe norms then the adjustment is achievedand the behavior of the person concernedwould be considered as normal. Grossdeviation from the norms demand clinicalinvestigations and interventions. Suchdeviations are defined as maladjustment.Severe deviations can be classified asabnormal behavior [2].In adolescents, adjustment relatedproblem can be seen easily. It may be relatedto either self or with peer group or both. Anadjustment disorder occurs when anadolescent is unable to adjust or cope with a

particular stressor, like a major life event.

Common characteristics of adjustmentdisorder include symptoms of milddepression, anxiety, and traumatic stress or acombination of these. According to DSM-IVTR, there are 6 types of adjustment disorders.There are certain stressors that are morecommon in adolescence and childhood [3]which affect the level of adjustment; familyconflict, parental separation, school problemsor changing schools and death or illness ortrauma in the family. ICD-10 classifiesadjustment disorders under F40-F48 andunderneurotic,stress-relatedandsomatoform disorders [4].Adolescence is a transitional stage ofphysicalandpsychologicalhumandevelopment that occurs between the age of13 and 19 years [5]. It can be a time of bothdisorientation as well as discovery. Thetransitional period can bring up issues ofindependence and self-identity; manyadolescents and their peers face toughchoices regarding schoolwork, drugs, alcohol,and their social life. Peer groups and externalappearance tend to naturally increase inimportance for some time during a teen'sjourney toward adulthood. Apart from thepsycho-physiological changes, they facedifferent challenges at this stage [6]. Level ofemotional stress and aggression is also highat the early stage in adolescents but graduallythe intensity decreases [7].Today adolescent doesnt have a clearview-point towards the life and he/she isfeeling emotionally alone, impatience andfacing problem in making adjustment in thelife. So there is an imbalance among his/heremotions, thoughts and behavior [8]. Duringthis period they acquire certain beliefs, valuesand social skills which determine their levelof adjustment [9]. At this stage, there is a bigneed to provide them with proper guidanceto overcome the challenges they face.Techniques in yoga and other psychologicaltools can be helpful at this stage.

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Yoga plays a significant role in

enhancing ones mental and physical health.There are a large number of studies on theeffects of yoga on mental health [10], physicalfitness [11], cognitive performance [12], anddepth perception [13], but there are fewerstudies assessing the effect of yoga on selfadjustment in adolescents particularly. Someevidence-based related researches arementioned below.A study was done to assess the effectof 1 month residential yoga training and 1month follow-up on suicidal tendency andsome of its associated psychologicalparameters, among 90 adolescent students(17 to 23 years) having suicidal tendency[14]. The subjects were divided into twogroups, experimental and control. Statisticalanalysis revealed significant descendingtrend in suicidal tendency in the experimentalgroup as compared to the control. The resultindicated a reduction in frustration and animprovement in mental health. Significantimprovement was also seen in emotionalstability, sober attitude, expedient behavior,boldness, trust, placidity, group led approach,tension and anxiety. Further, improvementwas seen in emotional balance and attitudetowards yoga. In another study the effect ofyoga practices, gender and inhabitance wasseen on adjustment in 80 students of sr.schools [15]. Sample was equally divided intotwo groups; yoga (n=40) and without yogapractices (n=40). Result revealed that yogapractices,inhabitanceandgenderindividually as well as interaction with eachother to determine level of adjustment amongstudents. In a randomized controlled trial,two months of Pragyayoga sadhana wasfound very beneficial to enhance the level ofoverall adjustment including self-adjustmentin adolescent students [6].With this background, the presentstudy was designed to see the long term effectof yoga on adolescents adjustment especiallyon their self-adjustment.Research Methods:Participants and study design

100 students (50 boys and 50 girls)

with ages between 13 and 16 years [groupmean age S.D., 13.58 0.76 years; mean ageof boys S.D., 13.68 0.77 years; mean age ofgirls S.D., 13.48 0.76 years) were selectedas the participants for this study. All of themwere government middle school students inthe north India. Participants of both sex, agebetween 13 and 19 years and those who werewilling to follow the study conditions wereincluded in the study. Participants withdiagnosed illness or on medication and anyexperience of yoga practice were excludedfrom the study. Personal informationincluding education, general health, dailyschedule and experience of yoga of all theparticipants were collected using personaldata sheet. The study was a before and aftergroup design and there was no control group.Signed informed consent was taken from theparticipants before starting the actual study.AssessmentAdolescent Adjustment Scale wasused to assess the level of self-adjustment [1].This scale is reliable and valid tool to locategood and poor adjustment to self and to thepeer-group of adolescent boys and girls. Selfadjustment is one of the main area measuredusing this scale. The scale have total 80 itemswhere 40 items indicate self-adjustment andanother 40 items indicate adjustment to thepeer group; each item has two possiblechoices Yes and No. Followinginstructions, the scale was administered tothe participants. The participants had takenabout 20 minutes to complete the scale. Aftercompletion, the answer sheet was collectedfrom the participants.Intervention programIntervention was given for threemonths (90 days) and on each day theparticipants practiced yoga for 30 minutes inthe morning between 9:00 and 9:30 AMexcept Sunday. Yoga practice involved Pragyayoga vyayama [16] [a series of 16 asana(physical postures) propounded by Pt.Shriram Sharma Acharya, Shantikunj,Haridwar], Nadisodhana Pranayama (a

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ISSN (Online): 2395-4892

Quarterly, Peer-reviewed, Int. Journal

breathing exercise), Soham Sadhana and

practice of Yognidra. Yoga was taught by atrained yoga teacher who had 6 years ofexperience in yoga teaching and the allpractices were performed in a well ventilatedand cleaned hall provided by the school

administration. Class attendance was

monitored by one of the class teachers. Noneof the participants reported any adverseevent to the intervention. Details of yogapractice are given in Table 1.Table 1: Details of yoga program

10 minutes[Tadaasana, Padahastasana, Vajrasana, Ustrasana, Yogmudra,Ardhatadasana, Shasankasana, Bhujangasana, Tirykabhujangasana(left), Tirykabhujangasana (right), Shasankasana, Ardhatadasana,Utkatasana, Padahastasana, Tadaasana, Balasana] Nadisodhana pranayama (a breathing exercise) 5 minutes Soham sadhana 5 minutes Yoganidra 10 minutes--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Total time 30 minutes--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pragya yoga vyayama [16] included16 step asanas mentioned above. Secondpractice was Nadhi shodhan pranayamawhich is the alternative breathing processfrom left and right nostrils with purak(inhalation), Rechak (exhalation), andKumbhak (retention). Third practice wasSoham sadhana. Soham mantra is a naturalmantra because it is already part of ournature. Sooooo... is the sound of inhalation,and Hummmm... is the sound of exhalation.Another practice was yoganidra [17].Yoganidra is an important method ofrelaxation, which was practiced in the flatlying position known as Shavasana.

Data extraction and analysis:

Total raw score for self-adjustmentwas calculated with the help of respectivemanual. Pre-post data of boys and girls werecompared using analysis of variance (ANOVA)[PASW Version 18.0] followed by post-hocanalyses which was Bonferroni adjusted.Results:The group mean values S.D. aregiven in Table 2. The ANOVA values for theWithin-Subjects factors (States), BetweenSubjects factor (Groups) and interactionbetween the two for the self-adjustment aregiven in Table 3.

Table 2: Mean, S.D. and P value of both group before and after the yoga interventionVariables

Boys (n = 50)PreMeanS.D.

PostMeanS.D.

Self23.244.3125.244.79*Adjustment*Significant at 0.05 level of significance.

Girls (n = 50)Pvalue.038

PreMeanS.D.23.005.23

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PostMeanS.D.24.943.64*

Pvalue.044

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Table 3: Detailed ANOVA values

Variable

Factors

df1,98

Huynhfeldt 1

SelfAdjustment

Within subjects(States)Between subjects(Gender)States Gender

8.591

.004

.198

1,98

.658

.002

1,98

.964

26

25

24Pr e23

Post

22

21

20Boys

Gir ls

Graphical representation of self-adjustment in boys and girls before and after 3 months ofyoga programDiscussion and conclusion:Result of the present study showedthat following three months of yoga, therewas a significant increase in the level of selfadjustment in boys (p<0.05) and girls(p<0.05) both.There have been speculations on themechanisms by which yoga practice mightimprove self-adjustment. Yoga practice placesemphasis on mental focus [18]. During thepractice of yoga the breath is regulated andmental focus is directed to it resulting inphysical and psychological benefits [19].Through different poses (asanas), breathingtechnique (pranayama), and meditation(dhyana), yoga makes the practitioner awareof his inner self [20]. Gradually thisawareness leads to a person having selfadjustment. Yoga practice includes mental

imagery and internal awareness. Yoga has the

potential of playing a protective or preventiverole in maintaining mental health [21] whichincludes a persons emotional stability,overall adjustment, autonomy, securityinsecurity, self-concept and intelligence [22].Yoga changes the view point or ourperception towards us. In a study on 190college going students, yoga was foundeffective. After practicing yoga the studentsfelt better mood states, individual copingstrategies and the level of psychologicaladjustment [23]. In an another study on 260students of both sexes, ages ranged between17 and 21 years, following one month yogaprogram their view towards their lifechanged more positively [24].Yoga allows teenagers to visualize,relaxandenteranoncompetitive

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environment [25]. Slow and deep breathing is

known to increase the parasympathetic toneand is associated with a calm mental state[26]. This way yoga tries to correct the basiclimitations of the mind by improving selfawareness, self-control, and self-esteem [27].In a deeper sense, yoga teaches us about selfevaluation. After regular practice of yoga withsystematic and balanced breathing, one canfeel the closeness with his/ herself and feelthe distance from external distracters. Thisself-evaluation is important because thesubjects are able to assess what they know,what they dont know and what they wouldlike to know. They begin to recognize theirown strengths and weaknesses, and will beable to set goals that they know they canattain with the new knowledge they haveabout themselves [28].The components of yoga interventionused for the present study include not onlyasanas but also include pranayama, sohamsadhana and yoganidra which help to moveinwards and to be aware of inner self. Thiscould be the one reason of the presentfinding.Regular practice of yoga helps tounderstand the real self. The more a personunderstands himself, the more he will be abletounderstandotherpeople.Afterunderstanding the self, one can adjust andreadjust with their self and then they canadjust in any situation. Also yoga is the way tocontrol over self as well as the best techniquefor self introspection and with continuouspractice of self-introspection a person feelsvery close to his self and this leads to selfadjustment. When a person learns the art ofself-adjustment they can feel a sense of selfsatisfaction and inner happiness [29].Yoga also helps in developing selfconcept and it is also associated with the selfadjustment. A study indicated that higherself-concept scores corresponded to betterpsychological adjustment, good personalskills and fewer behavioral problems [30].Self-concept clarity and self-esteem are alsolinked to positive indices of psychologicaladjustment [31].

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ISSN (Online): 2395-4892

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